The present invention relates to a thermosetting resin composition and a method of producing the same.
A composite material has been generally provided with physical properties corresponding to the application by combining a matrix material and reinforcing fibers or reinforcing particles. In particular, in the fields of semiconductor manufacturing instruments, optical instruments, microfabrication instruments, and the like, a reduction in the effects of the thermal expansion of parts has been demanded. Therefore, composite materials using various reinforcing fibers such as carbon fibers have been proposed (see WO00/64668, for example).
The inventors of the invention have proposed a carbon fiber composite material in which carbon nanofibers are uniformly dispersed in an elastomer (see JP-A-2005-68386, for example). In such a carbon fiber composite material, the dispersibility of the carbon nanofibers with strong aggregating properties is improved by mixing the elastomer with the carbon nanofibers.
However, technology of uniformly dispersing the carbon nanofibers in a thermosetting resin has not yet been established.